OL Reign’s Rose Lavelle dribbled near the right corner with two San Diego Wave defenders in her path. Lavelle passed to the nearby Veronica Latsko, who carried the ball further up the line.

Just feet from the baseline, with Wave defenders crashing into the box in front of her, Latsko let loose a high cross. The ball hung in the air as it sailed across the goalmouth before ringing off the far post and into the netting.

“That was not supposed to be a shot,” the 27-year-old forward admitted after the match.

Yet Latsko’s improbable goal propelled the No. 4 Reign to a 1-0 win over No. 1 San Diego and secured them a spot in the NWSL Championship against Gotham FC at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 11.

The Reign started their 2023 playoff run with their first postseason win since 2015. They have not played in an NWSL final since 2015, and they have never won the title. Gotham won their first two playoff games in franchise history this postseason. So the season will end with a first-time champion.

And with her goal against the Wave, Latsko became the third player in NWSL history to score in back-to-back playoff games.

OL Reign’s offensive dominance showed itself at the beginning of Sunday’s semifinal, as the club managed three shots on goal in the opening 30 minutes. They finished the first half with four scoring chances to the Wave’s two.

But the Seattle-based club didn’t break through until early in the second half, when Latsko’s boot put an end to San Diego’s season.

And it’s a good thing the Reign got on the board when they did. After the club controlled the ball for much of the first half, San Diego made its presence known in the second half. The Wave eventually took the majority of possession, shots and chances created in front of their home crowd at Snapdragon Stadium. But the Reign defense stood fast, clearing two crucial corners in the 87th and 88th minutes to prevent the Wave from breaking through.

“I think that our team is built on the foundation of defense, and when you get the defensive part right from top to bottom, that’s when you can win games,” Latsko said.

In the end, Latsko’s wide-angle shot was enough to extend the Reign’s season and retiring star Megan Rapinoe’s career. And Rapinoe’s teammates plan to rise to the occasion at the NWSL Championship.

“I think it’s really special to be able to get her there,” Lavelle said. “I think it’s really special to finally get to this moment and be able to be on this stage. Obviously, the job is not done and we have a big week ahead of us preparing for that.”

Megan Rapinoe has done a lot for the game of soccer.

For the teammates of the retiring OL Reign star, though, Rapinoe’s impact extends beyond her accomplishments. For example, her soccer smarts have helped to make everyone around her better.

“What P has done to impact me is, it goes beyond just the field,” OL Reign forward Veronica Latsko told CBS Sports’ “Attacking Third.” “I think that on the field playing with her has made me a smarter, better soccer player. And the things that she can see, it’s difficult to describe because I wouldn’t notice it otherwise. She’s such a smart player. She’s so talented. And she’s so willing to share that information with everybody because she wants everyone around her to be the best that they could possibly be.”

Latsko added that it’s “so much fun” to play with Rapinoe, which she has done since joining OL Reign in 2022.

“To play with such a brilliant player, with such enthusiasm for the game still, it’s incredible,” she said. 

And as much as Rapinoe excels on the field, she also is a staunch advocate off it. That’s something that doesn’t go unnoticed, and she inspires her teammates to do the same, Latsko said.

“Off the field she’s one of the biggest advocates for women and in women’s sports. It’s such an incredible time in my life to be a part of everything that she’s doing,” Latsko said. “I’m not the only one that can say this but, she inspires a lot of people to not just branch out and advocate for change but actually make that change. And it’s amazing, it’s been an incredible experience.”

The U.S. women’s national team is back in camp this week, playing two friendlies against Colombia as they continue to navigate the post-World Cup era without a permanent head coach. Perhaps ironically, some of the biggest names in American soccer in 2023 — Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger — won’t be taking part in those games, not due to injury but because they’ve moved on from national duty.

For a long time, contract structures and consistency of competition dictated that players usually ended their careers with international play in mind. They typically considered themselves USWNT players first and club players second.

But the ongoing pursuit of a final NWSL trophy for retiring stars indicates just how far the world of women’s soccer has come from that attitude. Both Rapinoe (OL Reign) and Krieger (Gotham FC) will want to ride out their NWSL postseasons as long as they possibly can.

New space to grow

Rapinoe got to control the narrative surrounding her USWNT exit. The legendary forward announced she’d be retiring from both club and country at the end of 2023 after former USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski made it clear she was in his plans for this year’s World Cup. Teammate Julie Ertz followed a similar trajectory but chose not to finish out the NWSL season with Angel City, the club she joined on a one-year contract after a long hiatus from professional soccer.

Krieger had a less ceremonious final few years with the national team, returning from a strangely imposed exile by Jill Ellis to help the U.S. secure a fourth World Cup in 2019. She also faded away during the Andonovski era, playing in her final match with the team in January 2021. The defender nonetheless continued progressing as a player in the NWSL, from which she plans to retire at the end of this season.

Krieger’s move from Orlando to Gotham for a fresh start in 2022 also didn’t go quite as planned, with the team struggling to score and sliding to last place in the NWSL standings by the end of the season. But one of the bright spots of an otherwise difficult season was Krieger’s increased comfort at center back. Later into her career, the 39-year-old has shifted centrally to maintain a steady pace of play.

Positioning in the central defense is something that takes time to develop, and Krieger’s penchant for the position emerged in slow motion. But her success in 2023 has her on the shortlist for NWSL Defender of the Year, giving brand-new life to a career that is nearing its end.

In a way, Krieger’s moment in the spotlight at the end of 2023 is a sign to players who don’t get to write their own USWNT ending that there is still meaning to retiring at the league level. Other players with similar stories who greatly impacted their team’s seasons were Angel City’s Sydney Leroux and Houston’s Jane Campbell. Also notable for next year will be the final club season of Canadian legend Christine Sinclair, who plans to retire from international play at the end of this year.

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Krieger and Rapinoe won two World Cup titles together with the USWNT in 2015 and 2019. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Changing tides

This mindset shift has a lot to do with the way player contracts with U.S. Soccer have drastically changed in recent years. The USWNT ratified their historic CBA in 2022, earning the exact same wages and benefits as their male counterparts for the same amount of work.

But the CBA change also moved the team away from the safety net of longer-term contracts, which the team had operated under for over a decade. Players theoretically now find themselves less entrenched in the USWNT system, making far more money per appearance than they were in the past, but no longer tying their long-term salaries to their place on the national team. This means less job security at the international level, which shifts a player’s home base to their club.

This has fortunately coincided with rising wages in the women’s club game, both in the NWSL and abroad. Players can now envision themselves having long careers in domestic play, as opposed to primarily on the national team. Playing for the USWNT is a dream for many players, but if that pinnacle is never reached or not held for very long, it doesn’t have to spell the end of a fulfilling, winning soccer career.

Even players who are still with the U.S. can feel the shift and tone. San Diego Wave superstar Alex Morgan made it clear earlier this year that she wanted to miss as few games as possible for her club, a mission that ultimately led the team to the NWSL Shield in 2023. That sentiment was echoed throughout the USWNT player pool, most recently by Lynn Williams in defense of the Challenge Cup. Players understand the balance necessary to compete at both levels, but a renewed intensity by the best players in the league paid dividends in the most competitive season in NWSL history.

Keep the story going

There might be a pause in the NWSL postseason during this international break, but Rapinoe and Krieger should feel pretty good about their chances to go all the way. Quarterfinalists tend to do well in the league’s expanded postseason format, with three of the last four finalists entering the playoffs as quarterfinalists.

Both Rapinoe’s OL Reign and Krieger’s Gotham FC looked ready for the cagey chess matches that make up knockout soccer in their quarterfinal wins. Rapinoe and Krieger were also instrumental in their teams reaching the postseason itself, with Rapinoe scoring a brace and Krieger making a goal-line save on Decision Day.

In addition to tactics, they benefit from the galvanizing force that overcomes a team when they want to send an esteemed colleague out on a high. Much has been made of Rapinoe’s attempts to win her first NWSL Championship — the Reign made the finals in 2014 and 2015 before enduring a long road of futility that resulted in their first playoff win in eight years in the 2023 quarterfinals. Krieger has been similarly close, losing the 2016 championship by the the closest margin in soccer, a penalty shootout.

Rapinoe and Krieger have the opportunity to go head-to-head to finish their respective careers with a storybook ending, but they have one more game to get through first. For now, they’ll wait while teammates handle international duty and return refreshed with the finish line in sight.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

In Megan Rapinoe’s final home game in Seattle, OL Reign eked out their first NWSL playoff win since 2015.

While No. 4 seed OL Reign and No. 5 seed Angel City remained locked in a defensive battle through much of the quarterfinal match, a header goal from Veronica Latsko in the 87th minute broke the deadlock.

OL Reign entered the match with a 2-6 postseason record, with the club’s last win coming in the 2015 semifinals against the Washington Spirit. OL Reign has never won an NWSL title.

“We’re a lot more mentally tough this year,” Rapinoe said of the team snapping its playoff losing streak. “We have a little more grit about us.”

In her final time playing at Seattle’s Lumen Field, the retiring star led her team with three shots and 72 touches. She played 93 minutes before being relieved by a substitute in stoppage time.

Rapinoe, 38, played her last match for the U.S. women’s national team in September, but with Friday’s win, she has at least one more match left to play. OL Reign will face the No. 1 seed San Diego Wave at 9:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 5, at Snapdragon Stadium, with a spot in the 2023 NWSL Championship on the line.

Carli Lloyd called Megan Rapinoe’s racial justice protests “distracting” to the U.S. women’s national team.

The former USWNT star also defended her own decision not to kneel alongside her teammates at the bronze-medal match of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, saying she “had enough of kneeling” in a new interview with “Kickin’ It” on CBS Sports.

In 2016, Rapinoe became one of the first athletes to join then-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and racial injustice. At the time, Lloyd described Rapinoe’s choice as a “distraction,” and distance has not changed her perspective.

“I had conversations with Megan — like, this isn’t a personal thing. What she’s doing, it was distracting our team, it was distracting others to play,” Lloyd told CBS Sports. “And I was a captain at that time as well, so I said to her, ‘It’s not to dampen what you’re trying to achieve with it.’ It just became, everything was focused on Megan kneeling and nobody was talking about the reasoning why, is what I was trying to get at.

“And so I had conversations with Megan during that. And every game we rolled up to, it was the camera to her, but no one’s talking about actually what the messaging was about, it was just, she’s kneeling and no one else is kneeling.”

Lloyd also discussed her choice not to kneel before kickoff at the bronze-medal match at the Tokyo Olympics. Every other USWNT player took a knee to protest racism.

“In that moment, we were kneeling — it was right before kickoff, so it wasn’t necessarily like a a protest per se, but I guess everybody in the English Premier league was just taking a knee before kickoff. So we had done it every game, and I knew that was going to be my last world championship game, so I wanted to stand,” Lloyd said. “I had kneeled all the other times.”

She insisted that no other thought went into the decision than her desire to stand for her final match at an international tournament. And if given the chance, she “probably” would do it again.

“I’m sure, because I was the only one standing and everybody else was kneeling,” she said, when asked if if she believed her decision had communicated a different message to observers. “I just thought that, we had done enough of the kneeling, and I just wanted to stand at my last world championship game.”

CBS Sports analyst and former USMNT player Maurice Edu shared with Lloyd his disappointment over her decision not to kneel, and while she said she respected his opinion, she also pushed back.

“I’m in support of change, of actionable change, and I just felt like it was just a thing to do,” she said. “It was just beginning to feel like a thing to do.”

Alex Morgan is the most marketable athlete in women’s sports in 2023.

The U.S. women’s national team star also stands as the third-most marketable athlete in the world behind Lionel Messi and LeBron James, according to SportsPro’s new ranking, which assesses athletes’ personal brand and reach.

Fellow USWNT forward Megan Rapinoe (No. 5) joins Morgan in the top five. Skier Mikaela Shiffrin (No. 6) and gymnast Simone Biles (No. 8) also rank in the top 10. From the world of tennis, newly-minted US Open champion Coco Gauff sits at No. 12 and Naomi Osaka at No. 14.

LSU star Angel Reese (No. 19) is the lone women’s basketball player on the list. She catapulted to stardom after leading the Tigers to their first national title in program history in 2023.

In total, 23 women are included among SportsPro’s top 50 most marketable athletes for 2023. In the World Cup year, Morgan and Rapinoe both jumped up the list, with the former up from eighth place and the latter up from 27th.

Serena Williams, who has since retired, dropped off the list, while Osaka and Australian soccer star Sam Kerr dropped out of the top 10.

This year’s list “underlines the growing commercial influence and value of women’s sport,” according to SportsPro. For the first time, qualitative research was included with quantitative marketability measurements to help determine the final rankings.

“This year’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes list follows the most comprehensive assessment of athlete marketability we’ve ever undertaken in the 14-year history of SportsPro’s annual ranking,” said Michael Long, editorial director at SportsPro.

Ali Krieger played in her final NWSL regular-season game Sunday for Gotham FC, and the retiring defender received love from across the women’s sports landscape.

Both Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird rocked “Ali Krieger Fan Club” T-shirts from separate sporting events – Rapinoe ahead of her own final NWSL regular-season game for OL Reign, and Bird from her courtside seat at the WNBA Finals.

Krieger saved her own game – and her club’s season – with a ball she cleared off the goal line. Her 30-yard recovery to make the play kept Kansas City from taking a 3-2 lead, and the match ended at 2-2, securing a crucial standings point.

Gotham FC is the No. 6 seed for the NWSL playoffs. They will face the North Carolina Courage at 7 p.m. ET Sunday in the quarterfinal round.

“I just wanted to give everything, and I felt like I did that,” Krieger said of Sunday’s match. “I’m just so proud of the complete performance. … My career’s not finished just yet, we have one more game to go and I’m really excited for what’s next.”

She also spoke on playing for Gotham FC the last two seasons, saying she has felt so “fulfilled and rewarded” in her time with the club.

“It’s been incredible the past two seasons. You’re playing with such great players, such incredible human beings,” she said. “We have each other’s back and we’re continuing that journey together. We said at the beginning of the year we wanted to be on that podium and lift that trophy. I know that the team, our mindset is right there, mentality is right there. The principles and everything, everyone’s bought into that. … We’re going in the right direction but obviously the job’s not done.”

Rapinoe, who played on the U.S. women’s national team with Krieger, also took to Instagram to applaud her former teammate.

“How to even put into words my dear, this incredible career you have had,” she wrote on Instagram stories. “There are far too many moments to start naming but your 100 caps, your World Cup final 2019. And mostly all the f–ks you have not given and ALLLLL the f–ks you did not give. I love you forever sweetie, you are truly one of a kind. An original, simply you Kriegy.

“Enjoy this beautiful day, soak it all the love that is coming your energy way. Lord knows you deserve it all.”

Megan Rapinoe scored a brace in OL Reign’s 3-0 win against the Chicago Red Stars to clinch a spot in the 2023 NWSL playoffs.

Rapinoe headlined a banner NWSL Decision Day for U.S. women’s national team stars. The 38-year-old forward is set to retire after the season, but with her pair of goals, she assured Sunday’s match would not be her last.

Alex Morgan and Jaedyn Shaw each scored in the San Diego Wave’s 2-0 win, which sealed the NWSL Shield and the No. 1 overall seed for the club.

From an experienced veteran in Morgan, 34, to a teen phenom in Shaw, 18, the Wave represent the best of multiple generations for the NWSL and the USWNT as they splash into the postseason.

Midge Purce notched a goal for Gotham FC in their 2-2 tie with the Kansas City Current. M.A. Vignola scored and Sydney Leroux connected on a bicycle kick for Angel City FC in their 5-1 win over the Portland Thorns.

Stars from other national teams shined as well. Japan’s Jun Endo scored Angel City, while Hina Sugita scored for the Portland Thorns. Brazil’s Marta provided the lone goal for the Orlando Pride in their 1-0 victory over the Houston Dash.

For USWNT forward Trinity Rodman, though, Decision Day ended in disappointment. The 21-year-old forward received a red card early in the Washington Spirit’s 1-0 loss to the North Carolina Courage, and the Spirit narrowly missed out on the playoffs.

Megan Rapinoe’s send-off broke more than just the NWSL attendance record. The OL Reign legend’s final home game also became the most-watched regular-season match in NWSL history.

The match drew 683,000 viewers, CBS announced Tuesday. It trails only the 2022 NWSL championship (915,000) among the most-watched games in league history. The match also was the the most-streamed regular season match ever on Paramount Plus.

Already, OL Reign had set the NWSL attendance record, bringing 34,130 people to Lumen Field for Friday’s 0-0 draw with the Washington Spirit. That mark broke the record set by the San Diego Wave last year, and shows the upward trajectory of the league. But it also was the proper way to celebrate a legend.

And if you ask OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey, it’s something to be proud of – but also something to expect as the league moves forward.

“We have to do that every week,” Harvey said after the match. “We need to have extra resources to be able to do that and meet the exposure that the sport’s having… we need to have the capability to market ourselves at that level.”

Per recent reports, the NWSL’s new media rights deals will include four-year agreements with ESPN, CBS, Amazon and Scripps, which includes Ion. So the NWSL could be more accessible than ever for viewers.

Megan Rapinoe is hardly ready to leave the public eye.

Rapinoe, 38, is on the final leg of her farewell tour, having just played in her last home regular season game as a member of the OL Reign on Friday night. The Reign set a new NWSL attendance record of 34,130.

While Rapinoe’s playing career might be coming to an end, the star said after Friday’s game there’s still a “lot more to come” from her.

“I’m going to be a part of this next phase of women’s sports, not just soccer hopefully, but even beyond that” Rapinoe told the media. “So many players in this generation have had such a huge part in building the foundation and the beginning stages of what is a really exciting time in women’s sports.

“I’m not going to miss out on the fruits of that labor, and just disappear and not be a part of it. I think I have so much to offer.”

The Reign threw a celebration for Rapinoe after Friday’s game, a 0-0 draw against the Washington Spirit. Rapinoe addressed the fans from a makeshift stage on the field.

“This was just always the place where I could be myself,” Rapinoe said. “To be able to play here my whole career, in one city … It is just really special to be able to have this.”

The Reign wrap up the regular season Oct. 15 against the Chicago Red Stars.